Bond Hearings (Sept. 10, 2013)Three men charged with assisting a fellow inmate escape the Pope County Detention Center appeared in bond hearings Monday. Jeremy Cates, 23; William Lewis, 32; and James Titterington, 28, were each ordered held in lieu of $50,000 bond after District Court Judge Don Bourne determined there was probable cause to hold them on suspicion of assisting Nicholas Allen, 29, in escaping the county detention center on Aug. 23. A Pope County Sheriff’s Off...

Courthouse news (Sept. 8, 2013)The following civil cases were filed in Pope County Circuit Court from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5: Cases assigned to the First Division: First State Bank v. Billy Wayne Kies and Clelia Sorrells Kies and Cindy Lou Hedrick. Steven Dale and Leland Dale v. Bank of the Ozarks, Inc., Angie Smith, individually and in her capacity as an officer/agent of Bank of the Ozarks, Inc., Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company. Cases assigned to the Third Divi...

Arizona woman released after decades on death row PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona woman is getting her first taste of freedom in more than two decades after an appeals court overturned her murder conviction, setting the stage for a retrial as prosecutors seek to put her back on death row. Debra Milke walked out of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s jail Friday after supporters posted her $250,000 bond. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned her conviction in March, ruling that prosecutors should ha...

Ohio kidnapper says police missed chance in 2004 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A man who held three women for a decade in his Cleveland home said authorities missed an opportunity to catch him in 2004, because his picture should have been captured by a school security camera minutes before he abducted one of his victims, according to interrogation videotapes that became public Friday. In the video, deceased kidnapper Ariel Castro says cameras outside Gina DeJesus’ school should have captured him the...

Little Rock police investigate shooting death LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Little Rock police are investigating a fatal shooting on the city’s south side. Police spokeswoman Sgt. Cassandra Davis said officers were called to a shooting on Mabelvale Pike early Saturday morning. Davis said when the officers arrived, they found Stephen Morrison, 23, with at least one gunshot wound to his torso. Police said Morrison was taken a local hospital where he later died. Authorities said they’re working to iden...

Tony Alamo followers fill Texarkana court TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — Close to 100 members of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries showed up in Texarkana for a hearing to address claims to properties a federal judge previously ruled can be sold. The Texarkana Gazette reported some of the members testified during Friday’s hearing. The ministry members want a federal judge to rethink an order giving the green light to sell six Fort Smith, Ark., properties associated with Tony Alamo to partially s...

Bond Hearing (Sept. 7, 2013)The following individuals appeared Friday in bond hearings at the Pope County Detention Center. Listed below are their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts. If charged, they will appear Oct. 7 in Circuit Court. • Angela Countryman, 46, two counts delivery of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) — $7,500. A warrant was issued for Countryman’s arrest after she allegedly sold methamphetamine to a confidential informant working wi...

Court stops Mont. judge from undoing rape sentence BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s Supreme Court on Friday blocked a judge from resentencing a former teacher who got 30 days in prison for raping a 14-year-old student, a sentence widely criticized after the judge said the victim was “older than her chronological age.” Justices said Judge G. Todd Baugh lacked authority to impose a new sentence on former Billings teacher Stacey Rambold, 54. An appeal of the case already was pending from prosecut...

FBI, DHS: No specific threat to 9/11 anniversary WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is aware of no credible or specific information that points to any terror plot tied to the anniversary of the September 2001 attacks, according to a new confidential threat assessment from the FBI and Homeland Security Department obtained by The Associated Press. The new assessment, dated Thursday, said that intelligence agencies remain concerned that al-Qaida and its affiliates are committed to carrying out at...

Sheriff reverses course, says he will retireBENTON (AP) — An Arkansas sheriff who pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and public intoxication has reversed course once again and now says he will retire. Saline County Sheriff Bruce Pennington said in a letter dated Friday that he will retire effective Oct. 1. Pennington said the same thing on Aug. 30, but he later changed his mind and said he wanted to finish his term and run for re-election. Pennington didn’t immediately respond to a phon...

Ex-employee pleads guilty to fraud at museum NORTH LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A former official at the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame has pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge after auditors found a $118,300 hole. Jennifer W. Smith pleaded guilty to a single count of access device fraud. Sentencing guidelines suggest she’ll face about a year in prison. A plea agreement says Smith must make $70,000 in restitution in 45 days. Prosecutors said the 47-year-old abused a Hall of Fame credit card for ...

Beebe staff member says he was carjacked LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The deputy chief of staff for Gov. Mike Beebe says he was beaten, robbed and carjacked in Little Rock early Thursday morning but police say they have different accounts of a crime. Police said Lamar Davis, 42, told officers that he was driving early Thursday when three men flagged him down, then beat him, took him to an ATM and robbed him. Also overnight, a woman called from a motel and told investigators she saw three men i...

Woman accused of trying to kill autistic daughter DETROIT (AP) — A northern Michigan mother — who had chronicled in an online blog the challenges her family faced caring for their autistic 14-year-old daughter — has been charged in a warrant with attempted murder in what police believe was a failed attempt at killing herself and the girl. Kelli Stapleton, 45, was expected to be arraigned in the coming days after her release Thursday from a Grand Rapids hospital where she was treated for carbo...

Prosecutors appeal Mont. teacher’s rape sentence BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — State prosecutors on Wednesday appealed as “illegal” a 30-day sentence handed down by a Montana judge to a former teacher for raping a student who later killed herself. The announcement came after District Judge G. Todd Baugh received widespread condemnation for the sentence and his comments that the victim was “older than her chronological age.” Defendant Stacey Rambold, 54, last week received 15 years in prison with al...

1 killed in shooting at Stuttgart nightclub STUTTGART (AP) — Stuttgart police say they have had trouble obtaining information from people who may have witnessed holiday weekend violence that left one person dead and five others injured. The violence erupted early Sunday at Casey’s Warehouse, where police say Albert Goodloe, 32, died from a gunshot wound. Three of the injured had been shot, one was stabbed and one was beaten, the Stuttgart Daily Leader reported Thursday. Assistant Police...

Court date set for man charged in cyclist’s death AUGUSTA (AP) — A 21-year-old man accused of driving into and injuring a group of bicyclists traveling through Arkansas on a cross-country trip has been released on his own recognizance. Prosecutors filed paperwork last week charging Teagan Ross Martin of Newport with negligent homicide after one of the cyclists died this summer. Martin also faces one count of careless and prohibited driving and 13 counts related to overtaking a bicycle. Martin...

Special prosecutor sought for Arkansas sheriff BENTON (AP) — An Arkansas prosecutor has asked a judge to appoint a special prosecutor to explore the possibility of removing the sheriff of Saline County following his guilty plea to a public drunkenness charge. Prosecuting Attorney Ken Casady made the request in a letter Thursday to Judge Robert Herzfeld. Casady says ethical concerns and his previous working relationship with Sheriff Bruce Pennington had forced him to step aside from any rem...

Prosecutor: 5 sentenced in drug-trafficking case FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Federal prosecutors say five people have been sentenced to prison or probation following an investigation into a drug-trafficking organization that was distributing methamphetamine in the northwest Arkansas area. Prosecutors say the five people sentenced this week were charged in an eight-count indictment filed in March. Online court records show that all five pleaded guilty to various charges in April. Prosecutors say the ...

Miller County investigates burned body in SUV TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — Authorities in Miller County are trying to identify a person whose body was found in a burning sport-utility vehicle. Arkansas State Police said Thursday that they were called at 4:30 a.m. about the car burning in a dry creek bed on U.S. Highway 67, about 15 miles northeast of Texarkana. The fire obliterated the SUV’s registration, license plate, and vehicle identification number. The burned vehicle appears to be a 2002 ...

Bond Hearings (Sept. 5, 2013)The following individuals appeared in felony bond hearings Wednesday at the Pope County Detention Center. Their names, ages, anticipated charges and bond amounts are listed below. If charged, they will appear Oct. 7 in Circuit Court. • Kevin Long, 18, forgery — $10,000. Charges were filed Aug. 27 for a May 23 incident in which Long allegedly passed forged documents, according to court documents. He was already in custody awaiting a hearing on ...